Costa Navarino teams with FC Bayern to launch football camps for summer 2019

Costa Navarino, the prime sustainable destination in Greece, announces an exciting partnership with German record-breaking champion team FC Bayern, one of the biggest and most successful football clubs in the world.Between 1st July and 31st August 2019, they will be launching brand-new FC Bayern Football Camps to give young guests the chance to learn tricks and tips from the official FC Bayern coaching team. The addition of this camp promises to enhance Costa Navarino’s already extensive sports offering for children. With such a vast range of activities to choose from, young guests staying with their families at the destination’s luxury five-star hotels The Westin Resort Costa Navarino or The Romanos, a Luxury Collection Resort, are promised hours of fun and games. From golf classes, indoor climbing, mini-tennis and badminton, to basketball, bowling and volleyball, kids of all ages will be endlessly entertained, and can return home with a brand-new set of skills.During a special program that extends from 1 to 5 days, kids and teens between the ages of 6-14 will master basic skills such as ball handling and movement, how to pass using both feet, how to play in defense and offence, both one to one and four-a-side teams, and how to score amazing goals.The aspiring footballers will also learn all the tools necessary to play excellent football, which combine the FC Bayern team’s tactics and technique with lessons of respect, fair play and strong team spirit, all of which are encompassed in the club’s philosophy.Young guests who participate will receive an exclusive FC Bayern Football Camp training kit and will be trained by an official FC Bayern coach.Two-hour morning technique and practice sessions are followed by two-hour evening sessions with various formats of competition. Here, young players can master their new skills in a real game at the Navarino Dunes’ training grounds, or at a full-sized pitch nearby.

Foodinate: 100,000th meal donated to homeless, and now venues/stadiums can join the cause

Since 2016, Manchester-born social enterprise Foodinate has partnered with restaurants and event venues to fight food poverty in the UK and bring hot, nourishing meals to people in need in deprived local communities.Now, to celebrate reaching the milestone in June of providing a massive 100,000 meals to those most in need, Foodinate is launching their “Business Champions Club” membership packages in the hopes of fundraising an additional £100,000 to expand resources and supercharge their impact to the next level.After celebrating reaching the 10,000-meal mark in January 2018, the meal-for-meal initiative has seen exponential growth. Foodinate is now having an impact in 12 deprived communities across the UK. Having now won 10 awards for their social innovation and female-founded entrepreneurialism, they are already working with some giants in the industry including The Alchemist and GG Hospitality.Co-owner of GG Hospitality and former Manchester United footballer, Gary Neville, signed up events and catering venture, GG Events & Catering, to Foodinate in 2018. The partnership ensures every person attending a private event at any of their venues, including Hotel Football and Manchester Cathedral results in a meal for a person in need in the local community through Foodinate.Of their decision to sign-up to the programme, Neville said: “When we heard about the Foodinate scheme, we knew it was something we wanted our events and catering company to be involved with. Homelessness is a serious problem, so for our clients booking events through us to know they are making a positive difference in the city at the same time as holding their event, it’s a very special thing.”Manchester-born Caroline Stevenson founded Foodinate at the age of 23, with little experience, contacts or money, but with a whole heap of passion and determination. Stevenson was recently named Inspirational Woman of the Year at the 2018 Enterprise Vision Awards for her work with Foodinate, saying of the new milestone “When I first started working on Foodinate, I dreamt about what it would feel like to reach milestones like this. Providing 100,000 hot, nourishing meals for some of the hardest to reach individuals, in some of the most deprived communities across the UK. I’m so proud of the team and will be forever grateful to our dedicated partners for believing in this idea and making it happen with us. Unfortunately, with more than 13 million people in the UK living below the poverty line, our work has only just begun, and we have huge plans to take our impact to new heights.”One of those plans is to take Foodinate to large-scale venues and events, including stadiums, music festivals and large sporting events. Foodinate recently appointed Dan Schofield, who has previously held leadership roles at Manchester City & Manchester United Football Clubs, as well as the London 2012 Olympics and Tour de France, as new Non-Executive Director to help make this happen. Schofield, who is currently MD of Pioneer Venue Solutions, is very excited about Foodinate’s potential. When asked about the task at hand, he said: “As soon as I heard about Foodinate I knew I wanted to be involved and use my industry contacts to help Caroline and the team generate even more impact. Foodinate is such a simple but powerful message – for every person attending a “Foodinated” event, a meal is provided for a person in need in the same community that the event takes place. That message resonates with both Event Organisers and Event Attendees, and now with the launch of the Business Champions Club, Event Suppliers too, so it’s a win-win. I’m really excited to get Foodinate in to Stadiums and Events and continue the fantastic work that has been done to date.”When speaking about the new membership offering, which they have named the “Business Champions” club, Stevenson said “Businesses in the community have really taken to Foodinate. It’s such a simple idea with such a powerful social impact, they’ve seen what we’ve been able to achieve so far and they want to be a part of it moving forward. We want them to be part of it, too. I’ve lost count of the number of amazing businesses that have approached us wanting to support our mission but couldn’t adopt our usual ‘eat a meal, give a meal’ model. The Foodinate Business Champions Club is about opening our doors to any business, in any industry, that wants to make a seriously positive difference in their communities and be a part of something amazing.”There are limited memberships available, so any businesses interested in finding out more are advised to head to www.foodinate.co.uk/champions

Tickets are now available for this year’s Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Industry Awards, so book now to secure your place at the industry’s biggest celebratory event – hosted by the BBC’s Dan Walker on Wednesday October 30 at The Vox, located in Resorts World at the Birmingham NEC, on the evening of the first day of the SALTEX exhibition.The awards – now in their 11th year – have continually grown in status for acknowledging the achievements of volunteer and professional grounds teams, as well as community clubs and national stadia. They recognise the passion, dedication and challenges faced by grounds staff at clubs of every size and from all corners of the UK.BBC sports presenter and BBC Breakfast anchor Dan Walker will bring a new dimension to this year’s event as the 20 award categories are presented.He currently hosts BBC One’s Award-winning Football Focus and regularly presents Match of the Day. He has also covered Wimbledon, The Grand National, Royal Ascot, The Derby and the Six Nations, as well as continuing to work on domestic, European and international football. He has also co-hosted Open golf coverage for the last 10 years and was an integral part of the BBC’s Olympic broadcasting team for both London 2012 and Rio 2016.To secure your seat – which cost £95 each for IOG members and £190 each for non-members – please contact the IOG by email (
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) or call 01908 312 511 where you can also gain details of how to become an IOG member.It’s not too late to nominate an individual or team for a 2019 Award. Visit: www.iog.org/awards and click the nominate button. This year’s categories include:• IOG Toro Most Promising Sports Turf Student • IOG Rigby Taylor/Top Green Young Grounds Person• IOG Volunteer Sports Grounds Team/Individual• IOG NGB Community/Grassroots Sports Club Grounds Team/Individual • IOG AMS Robotics Public Sector Sports Grounds Team • IOG Bowling Grounds Team/Individual• IOG SCH Supplies Best Managed Artificial Surface • IOG Ransomes Environmental and Ecology Strategy • IOG Headland Amenity Professional Cricket Grounds Team • IOG Cub Cadet Infinicut Professional Tennis Courts Grounds Team IOG John Deere Professional Horse Racing Grounds Team• IOG Professional Rugby Football League Grounds Team• IOG Compo Expert Professional Rugby Football Union Grounds Team• IOG Professional Football Grounds Team For English Leagues 1 & 2, National League, National League North/South, Scottish Championship & Leagues 1 & 2, Ireland & Wales Professional Leagues.• IOG SGL Professional Football Grounds TeamFor Premier League, Championship and Scottish Premier League.• IOG Redexim Charterhouse/Kubota University/College Grounds Team • IOG Growth Products Independent School Grounds Team• IOG SISGrass International Award• IOG Grassmaster Outstanding Achievement Award.There is one additional award for which nominations are not sought: the IOG Ransomes/DLF Alex R Millar Award – to the person chosen as the outstanding winner across all award categories.The NGB Awards are sponsored by the AELTC (All England Lawn Tennis Club), ECB (the England and Wales Cricket Board), The FA (Football Association), the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association), the Premier League, the RFU (Rugby Football Union) and the RFL (Rugby Football League).